Scaling AI-Driven Deliberation for Responsible Infrastructure Development

 

Deliberative Polling Process

Project summary

In regions of the world where public opinion translates into policy outcomes, public misconceptions and misunderstandings pose significant barriers to policy implementation and infrastructure development. Deliberative Polling is a method that helps the public to form and revise opinions, and to recognize misinformation. While Deliberative Polling® has been conducted hundreds of times and in 50+ countries, it currently can only be run by a handful of experts on campus. To support public discourse on infrastructure development globally, we are exploring how to transform this tool into a user-friendly, “plug and play” platform with the support of the Sustainability Accelerator and the Precourt Institute for Energy at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Our current focus is on data center development and affordable housing.

Together with external partners, our team is extending the functionalities of the AI-assisted Stanford Online Deliberation Platform, designed based on the method of Deliberative Polling® to create a tool that cities and communities worldwide can easily implement for their regional infrastructure challenges. We have created templates for determining informed public opinion on a continuum of housing solutions to address homelessness as well as templates for deliberations on data centers ranging from creating city standards and considering or lifting moratoriums to details for specific projects.

Project team

PI: Prof. Sarah Billington, CEE

  • Prof. Ashish Goel, MS&E

  • Prof. Rishee Jain, CEE

  • Ben Polsky, Ethics & Technology Practitioner Fellow

  • Dr. Alice Siu, FSI

  • Prof. Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, ESS

  • Dr. Eva Bianchi, Post-doctoral scholar, CEE

  • Daria Fontani-Herreros, PhD candidate, CEE

  • Stuti Desai, Undergraduate, Classics and Ethics Research Aide, Ethics in Society

Former team members

  • Juliet Ume-Ezeoke, PhD candidate, CEE

Our Partners

Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs, City of San José, CA

Housing Department, City of San José, CA

Alliance for Local Leaders International (ALLIES)

Our Funders

The Sustainability Accelerator, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Bits & Watts Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

What is Deliberative Polling?
 
 
OngoingSarah BillingtonBillington Lab, Sarah Billington, Ashish Goel, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Alice Siu, Rishee Jain, Affordable Housing, Climate Adaptation